The untold story of Amal Hassan – EFCC actually had nothing on her

The Economic and financial crime commission (EFCC) has eventually declared Amal Hassan free on the alleged forgery case file against her due to lack of evidence and witness.

Finding a successful Hausa-Fulani businesswoman seems to be a difficult task. It becomes even more difficult to find such an astute woman who was born, raised, educated and resident in Kano but does business in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, and Abuja.

Such can only be achieved by Amal Hassan – the undaunted and indefatigable force behind Outsource Global, Africa’s leading business process outsourcing giant, servicing countries in Africa, the United State, and the UK.

Speaking of the laudable feats she has achieved over the years, the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria Stuart Symington said: “I am impressed because you are solving one of Nigeria’s most important issues, employment.”

As Ambassador Symington completed the tour of Outsource Global’s facility in Abuja, he encouraged Mrs. Hassan to “network with women and others in your field, especially those who face the cultural and gender issues you have encountered.”

Indeed, Amal Hassan has faced significant business challenges over the years. Not the least of which was the attempted intimidation by a notable media mogul in Nigeria, where he presented spurious claims to the EFCC that led to Amal Hassan’s arrest.

Of course, women who go on to change the world are not covered; neither do they give up easily. Amal Hassan’s team immediately challenged the claims in court. The charges against her were subsequently dismissed in a competent court due to lack of evidence or corroborating witnesses by the prosecutor.

Amal Hassan had wanted to be a doctor, so she applied to the university to study medicine. The university admitted her to study Business Administration instead. Encouraged by her mother, Amal accepted to study the course, instead of sitting back at home where the probability of her being married off at a young age was very high.

That choice led to the making of the business mogul Amal Hassan is today. After obtaining her degree, she enrolled in a program to study basic computer skills. Wanting more, she left Kano for Lagos to study Microsoft Certified Systems Engineering. Upon her return, she started the first organized IT training center in Kano. Its primary objective was to enable women to acquire IT skills and broaden their job prospects. By 2005, the center had trained over 3,000 people, mostly women.

However, acquiring these skills presented an unexpected problem. The graduates could not readily find jobs since their first degrees were in different fields. To solve this problem, Amal worked with a company that provides financial software management solutions to banks thus providing employment for some of her graduates.

Today, Amal Hassan is the Founder and CEO of Outsource Global, employing over 800 staff that works with companies around the world.